To Drive Its Acura Courage in the ALMS
Highcroft Racing owner Duncan Dayton is pleasedto announce that he has signed former Formula 1 driver and current topendurance sports car racer David Brabham to drive the team's new AcuraCourage LMP2 in the 2007 American Le Mans Series (ALMS) Championship.The news was released simultaneously today in the United States and inLondon, where Brabham is attending tonight's annual Autosport awards banquet.
"I can't even begin to tell you how I feel at the moment," Brabham said. "Workingwith Highcroft and Acura on this new venture is a fantastic opportunity. It is anamazing program and I'm delighted to be part of this new era in sports carracing."
Brabham is one of only a handful of drivers to have at least one victory in sevenof the eight ALMS seasons to date. He has 12 career ALMS victories so far:seven in LMP1/LMP900/GTP and five in GT1/GT2/GTS.
Dayton expects to make another announcement shortly to name the co-driverwho will share the car with Brabham for the bulk of the ALMS schedule, whichtypically features two-hour-and-45-minute sprints.
Dayton will join the pair for the series' longer races, including the Mobil 1 TwelveHours of Sebring season opener March 17 in Sebring, Fla.; the Petit Le Mans atRoad Atlanta in Braselton, Ga., on Oct. 6; and the season finale at Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif., on Oct. 20. (Dayton currently has five ALMS victories, including a LMP 675 class triumph at Sebring and two at thePetit Le Mans.)
"I'm thrilled to have David on board to help Highcroft Racing develop our newAcura Courage LMP2 package," said Dayton. "He's not only an extremelytalented driver, but his extensive experience working with so many differentmarques will be a great help with our chassis development program."
"I'm very pleased to have David as part of the Highcroft team," added DannySullivan, the team's senior advisor. "Duncan and I are trying to build aprofessional, first-class team with our partners, Acura/HPD. David will be a greatasset to that team. He brings experience, professionalism, developmentcapabilities, and a winning spirit to our organization."
(Like Brabham, Sullivan is a former Formula 1 driver too. He is best known forhis 1985 "spin and win" Indy 500 victory and for capturing the 1988 CARTchampionship.)
Brabham's impressive resume includes class victories at the 24 Hours of LeMans, the Petit Le Mans and the Rolex 24, as well as an overall victory in theBathhurst 1000. He drove for both the Brabham and the Simtek Formula 1teams in the nineties.
Brabham has been on the podium at Sebring for the last four years and he'll begoing for his third victory in a row and sixth of this career there when he makeshis first start with Highcroft Racing in March. Brabham won the GT2 class atSebring last year in a Panoz Esperante from the pole. He won the GT1 class atSebring in 2005 in an Aston Martin DBR9.
He drove the ACEMCO Motorsports Saleen and the Krohn Barbour Lamborghiniin the ALMS in 2004. In 2003 he drove the Prodrive Ferrari and for TeamBentley.
Prior to that he recorded several successful seasons in LMP 900 for Panoz,primarily paired with Jan Magnussen. He's had other factory rides with BMW,McLaren, Toyota and Jaguar in the past.
The 41-year-old son of two-time Formula 1 champion Sir Jack Brabham and thebrother of former IMSA star Geoff Brabham said he is delighted to be joiningHighcroft Racing.
"After being away from Prototypes for two years, I'm really looking forward togetting out there on the track and mixing it up with everyone," he said."The team is very professional," he added. "Its facility in Connecticut is amazing;it's one of the nicest race shops I've ever seen. It's a fantastic facility for theteam to be based out of. I'm really excited about the upcoming season."
Born in England, Brabham grew up in Australia and is an Australian citizen,although he now resides in Maidenhead, England.Brabham got his first laps in the team's new Courage Acura at a private test atHomestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla., last Tuesday and Wednesday.
"After being in GT cars for the last couple of years, it was nice to get back into aPrototype, push the car to its limit, and then work with everyone at Highcroft andAcura to extend that limit," he added. "It's a great program to be part of."Sullivan said additional announcements would follow concerning other keypersonnel the team will add prior to the series' annual winter test at Sebring Jan.22-24.
